The photograph shows Oskar Schlemmer with three members of the Bauhaus band and their instruments on the roof of the Bauhaus building in Dessau: Clemens Röseler (banjo), Werner Jackson (clarinet) and Xanti Schawinsky (saxophone).
Music, dance and festivities played a central role in the social life of the Bauhaus whilst the Bauhaus band simultaneously made a significant contribution to the external impact and popularity of the Bauhaus itself. Its members travelled throughout Germany to play at balls and festivals and to set the mood with their cool arrangements of American jazz and Eastern European popular music.
